KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today in line with regional peers weighed down by sluggish market sentiment despite the recovery in oil prices, dealer said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.17 of-a-point lower at 1,777.77 after moving between 1,773.64 and 1,778.18 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers by 624 to 259, with 342 counters unchanged, 607 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Volume fell to 1.3542 billion units worth RM1.49 billion from 1.42 billion units worth RM1.75 billion yesterday.
Oil prices went up following reports that US crude fell more than expected.
A dealer said despite the good news, sentiment in the market was affected by worries over the US-North Korea geopolitical issue.
“Although buying for blue-chips emerged roughly 10 minutes before the trading ended, it still insufficient to support the key index to move into blue territory,” he told Bernama.
Of the regional bourses, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 1.13 per cent to 27,444, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.05 per cent to 19,729.74 and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.38 per cent to 2,359.47.
Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.15 per cent to 3,323.15.
Among heavyweights, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.42, both CIMB and Petronas Chemicals bagged two sen each to RM6.78 and RM7.03 respectively, while Tenaga was unchanged at RM14.22.
Maybank fell four sen to RM9.78 and Public Bank eased two sen to RM20.60.
Among actives, Netx and MLABS inched up half-a-sen each to 4.5 sena nd 17 sen respectively, but Sterling slipped one sen to 16 sen.
The FBM Emas Index fell 17.1 points to 12,605.43, FBMT 100 Index declined 9.58 points to 12,269.32, FBM Emas Syariah Index eased 18.59 points to 12,730.19, FBM 70 erased 43.6 points to 14,877.86 and the FBM Ace gave up 69.16 points for 6,432.28.
Selling in the small-capitalised stocks also largely contributed to the day’s performance. The FBMSCAP Index dropped 162.65 points to 16,896.35.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index eased seven points to 16,830.11, Industrial Index slipped 2.92 points to 3,248.51 and the Plantation Index fell 10.9 points to 7,829.96.
The Main Market fell to 838.85 million shares worth RM1.39 billion from 982.54 million shares worth RM1.62 billion on Wednesday.
Volume on the ACE Market improved to 343.84 million units valued at RM75.23 million from 280.08 million units valued at RM83 million million yesterday.
Warrants widened to 158.24 million shares worth RM23.27 million from 148.74 million shares worth RM26.87 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 38.54 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (239.57 million), construction (67.58 million), trade and services (266.68 million), technology (37.6 million), infrastructure (3.55 million), SPAC (1.76 million), finance (44.62 million), hotels (877,500), properties .(110.02 million), plantations (15.41 million), mining (nil), REITs (12.64 million) and closed/fund (4,900). — Bernama
